


In the Place to Be

by WhatsYourNameMan



Series: I Got Y'All Knuckleheads [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Brotherly Bonding, Foster dad Herc, John is a smol scrappy artist, M/M, are you ready for... HEALTHY COMMUNICATION, but very early burrcules, it's burrcules, so they're only flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 18:03:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9836840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatsYourNameMan/pseuds/WhatsYourNameMan
Summary: John is having some trouble adjusting to life with the Mulligan clan, and the reason surprises everyone.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo boy, this one is long. 
> 
> This takes place a couple weeks after John comes to live with Herc. He's fourteen so Laf is fifteen.

John was silent. He hadn't talked on the walk from school to Herc's shop, or on the ride from the shop to their house. This was how Herc and Laf knew something was wrong; John had been talking since the minute he arrived. For him to suddenly fall silent on his first day of school raised a lot of red flags for Herc. 

He let the boy have his space for a while after they got home. After about an hour, he finally went up to John's room. 

The door was hanging slightly open. Herc peeked inside to see the fourteen-year-old sitting cross-legged on his bed, drawing on his arm with a sharpie. 

Herc knocked before pushing the door open. John looked up with a panicked expression, tossed the sharpie aside, and yanked his sleeve down over his arm. Herc raised an eyebrow at him but didn't comment. 

"What's up?" John asked, a slight tremor in his voice. 

"You wanna tell me why you been so quiet?" Herc asked. He crossed the room to sit down next to John. 

"What do you mean?" 

Herc rolled his eyes. "You talk our ears off non-stop for the past two weeks and you're gonna pretend we don't notice when you're quiet?" 

John crossed his arms defensively. "What's wrong with bein' quiet?" he asked. This was back when his southern accent was still very deep and the grammar that came with it still questionable. "Ain't I allowed to be quiet if I want to? Who says I gotta talk all the time?" 

"There's nothing wrong with it," Herc said gently. "You can do whatever makes you comfortable. But if something's bothering you, you gotta tell us." 

John sighed and leaned over the side of the bed to where his backpack lay. He pulled out a sheet and thrust it towards Herc, not meeting the man's eyes. 

"Mr. Burr wants a meeting with you." 

Herc took the sheet. He didn't look at it. "Okay, why?" It wasn't unusual for Mr. Burr to call meetings. They had had many when Laf first started high school, for all sorts of reasons: Laf getting picked on, Laf having conversations in French during class, Laf accidentally breaking the tank containing Burr's pet snake. 

"I...I skipped class." 

"D'you wanna tell me why?" 

"No," John huffed. 

"John." 

"Fine!" John threw his hands up. "It was my first class of the day, and I saw all the people in there that I didn't know, and I panicked. The school is huge. I ain't never been in a class that big before. I tried to go in but I just couldn't." 

"Where did you go?" Herc asked, his voice not betraying any emotion. 

John looked down at his lap. "The art room. The teacher wasn't there. I took some supplies and just painted." He looked up at Herc with tears in his eyes. "I'm really sorry, Herc. I just felt like I had to...I dunno, make something. It's kinda how I cope, you know?" 

Herc nodded. "It's okay, John. I mean, you're totally grounded, but I understand." He thought for a moment. "Would it help if we got you a sketchbook? So that way you can draw in class when you get anxious?" 

John hesitated, then nodded. He hadn't had a sketchbook since the foster home before his last one. He had run out of pages and his foster parents had refused to buy him a new one. They had looked down on his art, calling it a waste of time. He had been resorting to drawing on his arms, but it frustrated him to no end that he couldn't make anything permanent. 

"All right, we'll go to the store after dinner, and we'll talk about punishment after I see Mr. Burr tomorrow." 

"Thank you Herc," John said as the man stood up to leave the room. "Having a sketchbook... it's really important to me." 

Herc gave him a soft smile from where he paused in the doorway. "Anything for you, John." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Herc hesitated at the classroom door. He had been to Burr's classroom many many times, but he had never been able to fight the butterflies that rose in his stomach every time he entered. He was big enough to admit that he had quite the crush on his foster sons' teacher, but the other man seemed to show no interest. Herc was resigned to hoping Burr just had a really good poker face. 

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. "Mr. Burr?" 

Burr looked up from the papers he was grading and gave a small smile. Herc's stomach did a somersault. 

"Hello Mr. Mulligan," Burr said, standing up to shake Herc's hand. 

"Come on man, we've known each other long enough. Call me Herc. Or at least Hercules." 

Herc couldn't help but notice the slight blush that graced the tips of Burr's ears. He hoped his own blush wasn't noticeable. 

"All right Hercules, have a seat." 

"I'm really sorry about John," Herc said, pulling a chair up to Burr's desk. "It's taking him some time to adjust." 

"You don't need to apologize," Burr said. "I understand that this is a big change for him. He did come to class today, although he seemed to be doodling for most of it." 

Herc rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that. I bought him a new sketchbook last night. He likes to draw when he gets anxious." 

"Then I have no problem with it." 

Herc glanced around the classroom before inhaling sharply. "So, uh, why did you call this meeting?" 

"I wanted to ask what I can do to help John with this transition." 

This caught Herc off guard. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. Lafayette wasn't nearly this difficult. John loves to talk, but whenever I ask how to help him he shuts down." 

"Maybe I can talk to him." Herc stared at him blankly and Burr hurriedly continued, "He may not want to tell you about his problems because he wants you to like him and feels that you might not if he lets you in. With me, there's no pressure for me to like him. He's stuck with me and I'm stuck with him. He can handle having a teacher who doesn't like—hypothetically of course, I quite enjoyed him today—but it would be harder to have another foster parent reject him." 

"Thank you," Herc said. 

"Not a problem at all. Thank you for coming in." Burr stood up to shake hands again and Herc did the same. 

As he left, Herc turned back to try his usual way of ending the meetings. "Would you want to go get coffee with me sometime?" 

Burr blushed and looked back down at his desk. "I've told you before, Mr. Mulligan. It would be highly inappropriate for me to get coffee with a student's parent." 

"Just thought I'd try again," Herc muttered, closing the door on the way out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"John, can you stay for a minute?" 

John froze on his way out of Burr's classroom. "Did I do something wrong?" 

"Not at all," Burr said. "I just want to talk." 

John cautiously made his way back towards Burr's desk. "'Bout what?" 

Burr gestured for him to sit in the front row of desks. John did. 

"I want to know how you're adjusting." 

John scoffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. He leaned back in his seat. He had lost all interest in the conversation. He had had it a million times before. It never changed the fact that he would be sent to a different home eventually. 

"I know it's a lot," Burr continued as if he hadn't noticed John's reaction, "a new home, new family, new school. It can be overwhelming." 

"I ain't overwhelmed," John snapped. 

"No offense, but it seems to me like you might be." Burr leaned forward. "It's my job to help you, John, and it's Hercules's as well. Can you help us do our job?" 

John looked out the window. "Don't talk to me like that," he growled. "I ain't a little kid." 

"I'm sorry." There was a beat of silence before Burr went on. "John, I really want this placement to work for you. I like you. You seem like a good kid. And I can tell that Hercules does too. He was legitimately worried when he came in here yesterday. I want to know why you're having trouble feeling at home here." 

John squirmed a bit, and Burr could tell he was debating with himself. He wasn't sure if he could trust Burr. That was all right. Burr could wait. 

Finally John huffed, "Lafayette don't like me." 

Burr raised an eyebrow. "I know Lafayette, and there is not a bone in his body that's capable of disliking someone." 

"He don't come within five feet of me. He keeps giving me this _look_ whenever I talk, like he wants me to shut up but he's too nice to say so. And he's always _pitying_ me, like I'm some sorta sob story. Just 'cause I was in a few more homes than him don't mean I need his pity. I don't need anyone's pity." 

"Do you think it's possible that he thinks you just need space? You are—no offense—a pretty defensive person."

"What are you, a therapist?" Burr smirked and John realized that he had just proven his teacher's point. "Okay, so what if I am?" 

"Lafayette might feel that if he tries to get you to open up, you'll attack him. Verbally or physically, I don't know. But he's probably just waiting until you're comfortable enough with your surroundings to really get to know you." 

"I ain't gonna attack him," John said incredulously. 

"Then talk to him. Initiate the conversation. Tell him how he's making you feel unwelcome. I can assure you he's not doing it on purpose. He'll change his behavior immediately if he knows how it makes you feel." 

John took a deep breath, held it for a second, then slowly let it go. "Okay. Thanks, Mr. Burr." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"H-hey Lafayette?" John hovered in Lafayette's doorway, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. "Can we talk?" 

Laf smiled kindly up at him from where he was laying on the bed. "Of course, mom ami!" He sat up so John had room to sit next to him. 

John stumbled over to the bed and almost fell down beside his foster brother. He took a deep breath to steady himself. 

"Does me being here bother you?" He asked more confidently than he felt. He saw no point in beating around the bush. 

Laf frowned at him. "Non, why would you think that?" 

John shrugged and fidgeted with his sleeves, wishing he had his sketchbook at the moment. 

"I dunno, you kinda just put out this vibe that you don't want me here. This is the closest you've ever let me come to you. A-and you always seem annoyed whenever I talk."

"Oh, mon frère," Laf said softly. "I had no idea. I did not mean to, how you say, come off that way. You seemed like you did not want to be touched—you always stay pretty far away from Herc. I am never annoyed by you, I just wish I could get to know you more. You talk and talk but I still feel like I do not know you. I am very sorry if I made you feel unwelcome." 

John felt a single tear slip from his eye. He hastily swatted at it, hoping Laf hadn't noticed. 

"Well maybe...maybe we can start to get to know each other," John said shakily. 

Laf put an arm around John's shoulders. "Yes, I would like that very much."


End file.
